[Antonio
Neto, currently the president of Central Geral dos Trabalhadores (CGTB), is
one of the most prominent labour leaders in Brazil. He is also the president
of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). Souparna Lahiri, had a
conversation with him for Labour File, Excerpts : ]

Being
a trade union leader, what are your concerns today?

Rising
unemployment, under employment and poverty across the globe. There are fewer
than 500 billionaires in the world today while over 1.3 billion people live
in absolute poverty. Between 1985 and 1995, more than 10 million workers lost
their jobs in Africa. In Japan, the unemployment figure has crossed 3 million
while in Europe, it has crossed the 3.5 percent level. In my country, Brazil, the unemployment rate is a
staggering 20 per cent. The transnational corporations and the speculative
finance capital, abetted by the International Monetray Fund (IMF) and World
Bank, are demolishing labour laws and destroying labour justice. The basic
rights of the workers are at stake.

What
is your opinion about WTO and its role in propagating the ideology of
globalisation and free trade?

WTO is
the instrument of neo-liberal economic programme and an extension of the
‘Washington Consensus’. It has helped the forces of globalisation to rip
apart the Third World economies, weaken the states and compromise their
sovereignty in the name of free trade. The control of the poor countries’
markets is being transferred to themonopolies and the roving finance capital.

Globalisation
is not creating a free market. It is creating a closed market for some with
an ultimate monopoly. How can WTO determine what is good for one’s economy
and impose penalties on countries simply because they cannot restructure
their economies according to WTO rules? How can it dictate who produces what
and force others to cease producing them? While the US preaches free trade and
opening of economies, it is itself erecting one barrier after another to
trade into American mainland. From the fixation of quotas to the use of
enviornmental and social clauses and human rights, it is the one who has
undermined international trade.

What
has been the effect on Brazil?

We are
witnessing the devastating effects of globalisation in Brazil. Brazil is rich
in natural and human resources. Yet, a large percentage of the population
lives in misery. The US, European and Japanese finance capital domiantes the
economy. Our biggest problem today is an enormous debt and the high interest
attached to the debt. Brazil’s debt is estimated to have crossed $116.5
billion, about 33 percent of the country’s GDP. Servicing this debt diverts
money from production which leads to large-scale closure of plants, higher
unempolyment and poverty and lower taxes and consumer spending. The
government then borrows more. It is vicious cycle from which Brazil has been
unable to escape.Today, around 10 million workers are unemployed and millions
more underemployed.

For
many Brazilians, life is difficult and often impossible. With the lowest
minimum guaranteed salary, the average Brazilian cannot afford the basic
necessities. About 52 percent of the workers manage the bare minimum wage.
Forty million people are illiterate and millions are homeless.

How have the trade unions in Brazil geared up to face
this onslaught?

The
trade union movement in Brazil has a history of leading massive nationwide
struggles. It has been successfully able to mobilise millions on the street
both against the government and the external forces on issues of national
policy, sovereignty, monopoly and dominance of transnational corporations,
fraudulent privatisation and closure of industries and rights of workers.

I
myselfwas christened to the trade
union movement at a time when the trade union in Brazil were leading a
massive people’s movement against the military junta. I was then working in
the data processing industry. Between 1964 and 1985, when junta was finnaly
ousted, thousands were incarcertated, tourtured and imprisoned. My father,
who was a trade unionist among the transport workers, was imprisined for two
years. Those were the heydays for the trade unions in Brazil. A united
opposition of the people, political parties and the trade unions brought down
the dictatorial regime. Since then, the successive civilian governments have
also faced the wrath of the workers.

In
Brazil, the neo-liberal politics began in 1990 with the government of
Fernando Collor de Mello, Widespread dissatisfaction and popularmobilisation led to his impeachment. It
was preceded by Brazil’s biggest demonstration ever, when millions gathered
outside the Congress in a seize which was lifted only when Collor was voted
out of his office. The trade unions have not spared Corduso even. He tried to
amend the constitution to make way for the transnationals. The Brazilian
constitution clearly defines what is public and what is private. So, the
trade unions had to defend the constitution in a bid to protect the sectors
like telecom, petroleum, transportation and social insurance. Today,
increased united initiatives among the trade union federations have made the
formation of a wide national front in defense of the homeland, a reality.
People are again on the streets. And, we are at the forefornt.

How
do you envisage WFTU’s role today?

Today,
more than ever, the unity of the workers is the need of the hour. We need
international solidarity to fight the forces of globalisation and the
penetration of the speculative financial capital. WFTU has been an important
force during the last 50 years upholding the rights of the workers world
wide. The international workers solidarity should defend the politics of
employment generation, the national, democratic and popular state and the
national sovereignty and self-determination of the people. WFTU has to defend
the labour laws and policies affirmed in the Philadelphia Declaration of
1944.

We
have to show that we can all work together to build up a transnational labour
movement. And the workers must become transnational too.